Find out how to appoint someone to file your tax returns if you stay abroad, or do it on behalf of another person, be it your deceased parent, mentally disabled relative or a minor.

Most people would have filed their tax returns by 5 August this year, but several may not have been able to do so for reasons beyond their control. While being a non-resident or having been out of the country is a common reason, there are other factors like death, mental disability, lunacy or being a minor, which necessitate the filing of returns by someone other than the assessee. However, not just anyone can log in to the person's account and file the tax returns.

In case of the former, where a person is not present in the country, he will have to appoint someone to file on his behalf. On the other hand, if you have to file on behalf of other people, you can't simply log in to the person's account and do it. There are specific people, such as a guardian, trustee, or some other competent person, authorised by law to do so. If you meet the requirements, you will have to register as a `representative assessee' by logging in to the income tax website and uploading the specified documents to prove your credentials.

Once your request is approved and you are registered, you can file the returns. If you added someone to file on your behalf, he can access the website and do the same. However, the representative and assessee may not have complete access to the portal once the returns are filed. For instance, a mentally challenged person will have no access at all since he is not competent enough to understand it, while a non-resident can view the uploaded returns initially and later have full access (see Access to tax website).

In the case of a deceased person, the legal heir is supposed to register as a representative and file the returns. He will have to list the income from the start of the year till the date of death and, if there are no records, he may have to go through relevant documents for calculating it. The income after the date of death from assets inherited from the deceased will be taxable in the hands of the legal heir. He can also digitally sign the ITR of the deceased by using his digital signature certificate. Once the return is acknowledged, the account is deactivated. The legal heir is also responsible for tax payable and penalty, fine or interest, which the deceased would have been liable to pay.

Find out all the steps you need to take to appoint a representative or register as one, the documents required and the formalities that need to be fulfilled for both these options.